Injury scare for Socceroo Aaron Mooy

Socceroos coach Bert van Marwijk and fans across Australia will breathe a sigh of relief after midfielder Aaron Mooy was cleared of a serious knee injury.

The 27-year-old was stretchered off in the second half of Huddersfield Town’s emphatic 4-1 Premier League win over Bournemouth.

Mooy had his head in his hands as he left the turf at the John Smith’s Stadium and it was later confirmed he had suffered a deep cut requiring stitches but no ligament damage.

Steve Mounie scored twice as Huddersfield lifted themselves out of the relegation zone. Mooy played a role in both goals, delivering the free kick Mounie met with a downward header past Asmir Begovic and later offering the square ball the Beninese striker wrong-footed past the goalkeeper.

The visiting fans were regretting their early wake-up call for the long trip north when Alex Pritchard netted his first Town goal in the seventh minute.

Junior Stanislas equalised for Bournemouth seven minutes later, but Mounie then struck either side of halftime and Rajiv van La Parra netted a stoppage-time penalty to take Huddersfield two points above the bottom three.

“It was a huge win for all of us,” Wagner said. “We said before the game that this is massive for us and that after Old Trafford we had the difficult fixtures behind us.

“Now it’s time to build up momentum against opponents which are in front of us, against whom we are more competitive.

“But it’s one thing to speak about it and another thing – and this shows character – to do it and the players have done that.”

Last week’s 2-0 defeat at Manchester United had plunged Town into the bottom three for the first time and Wagner was delighted with his players’ response.

“We’ve seen some fantastic individual performances from some of our players and collectively we attacked very well,” he said.

Later, Matt Ritchie’s first goal of the season for Newcastle condemned Manchester United to a 1-0 defeat at St James’ Park.

The Scotland winger tucked Dwight Gayle’s lay-off into the bottom corner in the 65th minute of play on Tyneside.

A first Premier League win in five outings lifted Newcastle out of the relegation zone while leaving United 16 points adrift of leaders Manchester City.

“They fought like animals and animal is a good word in football and I hope they take it as a compliment,” Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho told Sky Sports of his opponents.

“They fought for their points and when they went in front they gave their lives to keep a clean sheet.

“I think it’s a beautiful way to win a football match.”

In Sunday’s late game goals from Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah fired Liverpool to a 2-0 victory at Southampton and up to third place.

Southampton, who were up against their former defender Virgil van Dijk on his return to St Mary’s, end the weekend in the relegation zone as their quest for a first home league win since November continues.